The RACV Bridge Club requires a standard of conduct and interpersonal etiquette in line with the wider standards of the RACV Club. Club Members and guests must seek to provide a space of inclusivity and comfort within regular Bridge sessions and events. It is prohibited for any Club Member to exhibit inappropriate behaviour and/or unreasonable behaviour directed towards a staff member, Club Member, or guest within the Club, including but not withstanding failure to follow reasonable direction by a staff member.

Conduct and etiquette concerns that arise within the context of the RACV Bridge Club are to be raised in writing with the standing Bridge Committee, so that they may be appropriately communicated with RACV Club proper for consideration and if necessary, consequent action.

A. Appropriate Communication between Partners

1.   Communication between partners during the auction and play shall be effected only by means of calls and plays, except as specifically authorized by these laws.

2.   Calls and plays should be made without undue emphasis, mannerism or inflection, and without undue hesitation or haste. But Regulating Authorities may require mandatory pauses, as on the first round of the auction, or after a skip‐bid warning, or on the first trick.

B. Inappropriate Communication between Partners

1.   Partners shall not communicate by means such as the manner in which calls or plays are made, extraneous remarks or gestures, questions asked or not asked, or alerts and explanations given or not given.

2.   The gravest possible offence is for a partnership to exchange information through prearranged methods of communication other than those sanctioned by these Laws.

C. Player Receives Unauthorized Information from Partner

1.   When a player has available to him unauthorized information from his partner, such as from a remark, question, explanation, gesture, mannerism, undue emphasis, inflection, haste or hesitation, an unexpected alert or failure to alert, he must carefully avoid taking any advantage from that unauthorized information [see Law 16B1(a)].

2.   A penalty may be assessed against a player who violates C1, but if the opponents have been damaged, see also Law 16B3.

D. Variations in Tempo or Manner

1.   It is desirable, though not always required, for players to maintain steady tempo and unvarying manner. However, players should be particularly careful when variations may work to the benefit of their side. Otherwise, unintentionally to vary the tempo or manner in which a call or play is made is not an infraction. Inferences from such variations are authorized only to the opponents, who may act upon the information at their own risk.

2.   A player may not attempt to mislead an opponent by means of a question, remark or gesture; by the haste or hesitancy of a call or play (as in hesitating before playing a singleton); by the manner in which a call or play is made; or by any purposeful deviation from correct procedure (see also Law 73E2).

E. Deception

1.   A player may appropriately attempt to deceive an opponent through a call or play (so long as the deception is not emphasized by unwonted haste or hesitancy, nor protected by concealed partnership understanding or experience).

2.   If the Director determines that an innocent player has drawn a false inference from a question, remark, manner, tempo or the like, of an opponent who has no demonstrable bridge reason for the action, and who could have been aware, at the time of the action, that it could work to his benefit, the Director shall award an adjusted score.

A. Proper Attitude

1.   A player should maintain a courteous attitude at all times.

2.   A player should carefully avoid any remark or extraneous action that might cause annoyance or embarrassment to another player or might interfere with the enjoyment of the game.

3.   Every player should follow uniform and correct procedure in calling and playing.

B. Etiquette

As a matter of courtesy, a player should refrain from:

1.   paying insufficient attention to the game.

2.   making gratuitous comments during the auction and play.

3.   detaching a card before it is his turn to play.

4.   prolonging play unnecessarily (as in playing on although he knows that all the tricks are surely his) for the purpose of disconcerting an opponent.

5.   summoning and addressing the Director in a manner discourteous to him or to other contestants.

C. Violations of Procedure

The following are examples of violations of procedure:

1.   using different designations for the same call.

2.   indicating approval or disapproval of a call or play.

3.   indicating the expectation or intention of winning or losing a trick that has not been completed.

4.   commenting or acting during the auction or play so as to call attention to a significant occurrence, or to the number of tricks still required for success.

5.   looking intently at any other player during the auction and play, or at another player's hand as for the purpose of seeing his cards or of observing the place from which he draws a card (but it is appropriate to act on information acquired by unintentionally seeing an opponent's card).

6.   showing an obvious lack of further interest in a deal (as by folding one's cards).

7.   varying the normal tempo of bidding or play for the purpose of disconcerting an opponent.

8.   leaving the table needlessly before the round is called.

A call is made by the player selecting the appropriate card from the bidding box and placing it on the table in front of them. Players should not touch any bidding cards before they have determined their call. Subsequent calls should then overlap neatly and evenly from left to right so that every call is visible and faced towards partner.

Alerts are made by saying “Alert” clearly and noticeably as well as placing an alert card on top of the alertable call. The alerted player must acknowledge the alert before their next call.

A call is considered made when a bidding card is removed from the bidding box and held face up, touching or nearly touching the table; or maintained in such a position as to indicate that the call has been made. Players should not hold, or remove and replace, bidding cards from the bidding box when under consideration as it may convey unauthorised information and restrict partner’s actions.

A call selected may be changed if, under Director consultation:

• it is determined that the call was selected unintentionally; or
• it is required by rectification following an irregularity; or
• it is a change following the correction of an opponent’s irregularity.

A player who removes his bidding cards from the table with the intention of passing is deemed to have passed.

All the bidding cards should remain on the table until after the opening lead has been faced, after which all bidding cards from all players are restored to the bidding boxes.

After the bidding cards are restored to their boxes a player may, at their first turn to play, require all previous calls to be restated. Only an opponent shall respond to this request